4 keys to suburban deer hunting success

I’m from a small town in southeast Pennsylvania, about an hour north of the city of brotherly love, and a 90 minute drive west of the city that never sleeps. People love living in this area because it’s a blend.

It’s a blend of the rural countryside, dotted with Revolution-era farmsteads amidst rolling hills and it’s a blend of small towns connected to big ones via major interstates and rail lines. Once dominated by farmland, the area has been heavily developed with homes, commercial zones and business parks.

The story is much the same in many areas of the country.

Traditionally, hunters would pack their gear once the season arrived and head up to the big woods and farmlands that still dominate much of the state. You’d leave the cities and suburbs and stay in a hotel or hunting camp and that is when the hunt began.

I never had that experience.

I started hunting as a youngster, and the hook was set deep for me. As I matured as a hunter and began experiencing consistent success, I realized I had something a lot of people didn’t have. I had access. I have upwards of 10 different spots where I can come and go as I please. Year after year I’d scout these properties, and depending on where the best bucks were located, that was where I went – pretty simple.

People would see the deer my family and friends would tag and say something like, “Yeah well, I could do that too if I had those spots…” They chalked it up to something unattainable. If the reason I was experiencing success was a particular scent tactic, brand of bow or calling sequence, any hunter could pick up the item or method and start planning a semi-sneak or semi-upright on their next shoulder mount. But it was access. So let me share my methods to obtain access in suburbia.

Know the facts

First, know the basic facts and be able to articulate them. Here are some I start off with: When settlers first arrived in this country, there were 10-12 deer per forested square mile in my region. After we killed off the natural predators and upset the eco-system, many areas around me now have 40-60 deer per forested square mile. That’s 5 times as many mouths at the table as designed.

One deer eats on average 5-7lbs of food per day. In a mixed diet of leafy browse, acorns, beech nuts and clover, that equates to three well-packed shopping bags. Try it for yourself. That is the amount one deer consumes in one day. Do the math and you can see how much of an environmental impact that has. More people than ever are green-minded and well explained facts can be the tipping point to getting your best spot.

Talk safety

Estimates are all over the place as far as deer/vehicle collisions. State Farm reported recently that 1,230,000 deer/vehicle collisions happened in just one year in America. How much did that cost to repair? Roughly $4,000,000,000, that’s how much. I’ll say it again, four billion dollars! I accounted for one of those repairs last month, and my claim was $3000.

Sign and give the landowner a “landowner release form.” Though unnecessary in some states, this releases the landowner of any liability if you or anyone else should get hurt while hunting. You can perform a Google search for a simple form and print one out for the landowner.

Give them something

Providing references goes a long way. A reference list can especially help when you are a stranger to the landowner.

Offer to provide services. This is a big one. I’d be a rich man if I was getting paid money for all the snow I’ve plowed, hay bales I’ve stacked, fall clean-ups I performed, trees I’ve cut down and the lawns I’ve mowed in exchange for hunting permission. But I was paid – with permission. If you’re not willing to work for it, you probably won’t gain access.

If looks could kill

My last suggestion should go without saying, but apparently it doesn’t, so I feel the need to mention it. Clean your act up a bit.

Every year I get my doe tags at the county court house. Me and hundreds of other hunters, who also happen to prefer the over the counter experience to attaching stamps to an envelope, gather and wait in line for the county treasurer’s office to open.

Most in line are great people, a few are not. Hearing some of the language and stories told makes me cringe. If one of these guys showed up at my door asking to bring a bow or gun on my property, I’d call the police.

When all is said and done, work hard for your access and you will open new doors to some of the most amazing and productive hunting to be had in suburbia.

Author: Josh Isabell

Josh is a Registered Maine Guide and the owner of Freedom Outfitters of Maine in Mariaville, Hancock County, Maine. He can be reached at josh8880@aol.com

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